More than 1,000 new Commandos graduate | NATO

The newest and biggest Commando class, 1,056 strong, graduated from the 21st Commando qualification course today at Camp Commando, Kabul, marking their passage into the elite Afghan Special Security Forces, who have never lost on the battlefield.

The successful transformation of traditional ANA units into the Commando force enables the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command to create seven additional mobile strike kandaks in the next four years. These units, in addition to new Afghan Air Force capabilities will provide the regionally-aligned brigades of special operators with significant operational reach to pursue adversaries over Afghanistan’s rugged terrain in all weather conditions.

The first Commando mobile strike kandak will be ready in late spring of 2018 to go into action against the Taliban, ahead of the start to when fighting has traditionally increased as winter recedes.

The impact of security sector reforms is more and more obvious on the battlefield, and the Commandos, along with the specialized counter-terrorism police units and the Air Force’s Special Mission Wing, are an important component of the Afghan 2020 Roadmap. The Roadmap is President Ghani’s vision and plan to build increasingly effective, affordable and sustainable Afghan security forces, an important element of which includes doubling the size of the ASSF.